There is a sickness with social media, where people want to post the worst possible things and try and relate it to themselves. It turns into this giant pit of sadness and in my opinion isn’t what this platform is about. Instead, I’d like to share something positive about people I know and how great they have been to me and others around them.
In October when the shop blew up, it was and still is the absolute craziest thing to have ever happened to me. The sense of dread and terror that took hold that day didn’t feel like it was ever going to let go. Then Jeff Croci started a go fund me for myself and my coworkers. I saw all the positive comments and words of encouragement from everyone and it left me speechless.
A week after the explosion, I was still without a lot of equipment. Tools I had been collecting and using for twelve years were gone. I am not superstitious nor do I believe in a higher power, but there is tattoo mojo. My machines had some fucking mojo. They had been with me all over the world and tuned perfectly for me and everyday I would think, “I can lose everything except these, and be okay.” Then reality hit and I lost everything. I bought a machine a couple of days after the explosion just so I could say I owned something related to my job title, tattooer. However, it takes time to build mojo and make a machine feel like it’s yours.
I got a message from my friend Adam Craven that he had machines for me. I met him over at Atlas Tattoo and he gave me two machines, one of which was a machine I used to own that he got off the guy I sold it to. He completely rebuilt it and gave it back to me. I was floored. Then the real magic happened and he gave me one of his personal machines. A machine he’s been using for a year. A machine that he’d been tweaking and tuning and bestowing some great mojo onto. He told me all the little details of the machine, that it’s a hand cut side plate of his very own prototype and that the spring stock is 40 years old. By far the best and most meaningful good luck charm on this Cadillac of machines was a rear binding post. It had come off of Ross Ferrie’s Color King. A machine that had a good twenty plus years of use. It’s mangled from the clip cord, and it looks amazing. Ross Ferrie is very much a tattoo father figure to me and to own a machine that has a piece of one of his machines on it, built by another great peer of mine, Adam, is pretty much the greatest thing in the world. That machine is dripping with mojo and you can feel it.
Tattooing is a great thing. If it weren’t for tattooing I wouldn’t be where I am and that wouldn’t be very great. Happy New Year!

While the new shop is under construction I’ve had a chance to go through some old photos and found this collar tattoo from a few years back. The octopus is a new one I was happy to do at my guest spot at Albatross Tattoo.

As most Portlanders have heard, there was a large explosion in Northwest Portland this morning. The explosion, caused by a natural gas leak, destroyed the lovely 110 year old building Art Work Rebels occupied. Everyone from the shop is safe and healthy, and all of the guys still plan on keeping their appointments. We are already in the process of finding a new home for Art Work Rebels Tattoo and hope to be back up and running as soon as possible.

That said, while the shop is temporarily closed, our tattooers are still very much so open for business. We ask that if you had an appointment already scheduled — or would like to schedule an appointment — to please email us. Lastly, we would like to send our sincerest gratitude for all of the love and support we have received to both our amazing friends and clients. Our good friend Jeff Croci of Seventh Son Tattoo has set up a Go Fund Me for those that have expressed the desire to help out.

THANK YOU AND SEE YOU SOON

A couple of he guys will be at the Bay Area Convention this week, so Jeff P. is covering shifts. He’ll be in the shop Mon-Fri 11am-8pm this week. Come check out his secret stash of tattoo flash, and pick something good!

On a recent food expedition, Jason sought the most delicious green chili in the contenental US. His voyage landed him first in Denver, Colorado & then Santa Fe, New Mexico (with a brief explosive diarrhea stop in Pueblo, Colorado).

Jason stopped at some cool old western towns along the way. A few towns hadn’t been touched in over 400 years (that is, until Jason decimated their antiquated plumbing systems during an emergency pit-stop or two).

At one point in his trip, Jason ducked into a local phone booth while Derek Everlong met up with his old buddy Fuse. These two derelicts spent hours talking about dicks & farts, while eventually painting a wall.

Last November Donald Vizzini embarked on a journey with Ross to make his version of the iconic Bert Grimm sundance. In less than ten sittings and ten months, they finished. Here’s some in progress and the finished tattoo at the bottom.

First draft.

First session.

A few sessions in.

Getting closer.

Finished.

Thank you Donnie, for your dedication and perseverance through this project. You’re a tough son of a gun.

For those interested in amazing food, Donnie works at The Painted Lady restaurant and co-owns the Continnum Supper Club, a fine dining tasting menu pop up at an unbeatable price.

For larger work, please call the shop or email Ross directly at sundelin@hotmail.com.

With our late scorching summer in full affect, the boss took some time to relish nature’s incredible bounty.

In addition to making sweet dragon tatties, Jason has been jarring artisanal pickles, foraging wild berries, circle jerking next to waterfalls, and betting the “farm” on the Clark County fair’s blue ribbon racing pig, “Pigasus”!

Stay tuned to hear how Jason caps off this epic summer… What adventures could he still have in store?!?

The legend and man of international mystery will be making a few dreams come true on his 50 states tour, however, he is all booked for this trip! If you’d like to say hi or beg and plead for an appointment you can find him here:

Adventuretattoo@gmail.com @chadkoeplinger

Greg Dyer and Onnie O’Leary Aug. 23rd and 24th

These couple of pervs can be contacted here:

Touringtaco@gmail.com @tacomonster

Tattoosbyonnie@gmail.com @onnieolearytattoo

And last for August is the sweet angel of Kansas City himself, Mark Galloway! August 26th – 28th.

Contact him through his website at http://www.windhorserising.com or @markgalloway

So if you love pancakes, ghosts, gorillas, scary skulls, vaginas, diamond shapes, hallucinatory puzzles of people and snakes, eyeballs, mandalas and geometry, you have no reason to miss out on these guests! So don’t be a dumb dumb! Contact one or all of them today!

Ross had the opportunity to tattoo some of his favorite subject matter these last couple of weeks on some visitors from California. Seeing as they were visiting the Rose City, it seemed natural that they get roses!

Drawn on gap filler.

Drawn on.

Tattooed by Ross from Jeff P flash.

Ross can be reached at the shop or via email, sundelin@hotmail.com for appointments!
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